NO ABORTION FUNDING IN THE BUDGET

NO ABORTION FUNDING IN THE BUDGET

Open Letter to the Illinois General Assembly

May 24th, 2018

On September 28, 2017, Governor Rauner signed into law House Bill 40, which authorizes the use of taxpayer funds for abortions through Medicaid and state employee health insurance. This new mandate is not eligible for reimbursement by the federal government, putting the entire cost on Illinois taxpayers.

House Bill 40 did not contain an appropriation; therefore, funding for elective abortions will come out of state Medicaid and health insurance funding.

No one knows how many more abortions there will be due to House Bill 40, but no matter the number, the principle is the same: our state tax dollars should not go to pay for abortion. You have the opportunity to ensure that no taxpayer money is used to end the life of any unborn child.

We are asking all members of the Illinois General Assembly to refuse to provide the means for House Bill 40 to accomplish its deadly consequences by including language in annual appropriations denying the use of tax dollars for elective abortions.

Due to our less-restrictive laws, in 2016 there was a 40 percent increase in the number of people coming to Illinois from out-of-state to undergo an abortion, forcing Illinois taxpayers not only to pay for abortions of Illinois citizens but of those from out-of-state. House Bill 40 will accelerate this trend.

Please work with us to protect taxpayers and unborn children.

Robert Gilligan, Executive Director

Catholic Conference of Illinois

Dawn Behnke, President

Illinois Federation For Right to Life

Eric Scheidler, Executive Director

Pro-Life Action League

Mary Kate Knorr, Executive Director

Ralph Rivera, Legislative Chairman

Illinois Right to Life Action

Bonnie Quirke, President

Lake County Right to Life

October 4, 2010

Abortionist Pulls Gun on Pro-Life Witnesses

A Tennessee abortionist was arrested, but released on $25,000 bail Saturday after brandishing a gun at pro-lifers peacefully witnessing outside a Charleston clinic.

Witnesses say Tennessee abortionist Gary Boyle, 62, pointed a loaded handgun as he emerged from his vehicle at about 8:30am Saturday morning at three pro-life witnesses, including one 17-year-old young man, who were standing outside the Charleston Women's Medical Center in West Ashley. After Boyle entered the clinic, the pro-lifers called police.

"We were like, 'Well, that was a gun,'" John Karafa, one of the three, told the Charleston Post and Courier. "You can't do that." Karafa was a participant in the 40 Days for Life campaign, an international semiannual event of prayer, fasting, and pro-life witness outside abortion facilities. The abortionist was arrested and charged with pointing a firearm.

The Post reports that Boyle attended a bond hearing by video conference, and paid his $25,000 bail later the same day. More than half a dozen pro-lifers wearing 40 Days for Life wristbands reportedly attended the proceedings. The Charleston Women's Medical Center is South Carolina's largest abortion center, performing 2,550 abortions in 2008, and nearly 55,000 between 1988 and 2008, according to Columbia Christians for Life.

Boyle has been in trouble with the law before. For several years in the 1990s, Boyle operated a Tennessee abortuary without proper state certification; however, an appeals judge eventually ruled in 2002 that the statute requiring certification violated a woman's right to privacy, the Post reports.